9-year-old slams one out

Kodi Storment first female Turlock Little Leaguer to hit HR

Kodi Storment

Kodi Storment is a 9-year-old who can be a little shy at first, but there’s one thing that makes her eyes and smile widen.Her young baseball career made a giant dent into the Turlock Little League record books on the afternoon of March 27, when she became the first girl in Turlock to hit a home run — this one over the leftfield fence of Soderquist Park. Usually, it’s the 12-year-old boys who often knock out the long balls.Storment still remembers it well.“My coach said to try harder,” she said. “I went up there and I think I had a strike on me. I swung at a wild pitch. The next pitch, I had my eye on it and I hit it. I felt amazed. All the players hit me on the head.”It was more like friendly taps on the helmet, signifying that the player underneath it did something great. In fact, it was historic. Both Tony Lema, the president of the Turlock Little League, and Ralph Serpa, the league’s head umpire, said in all their years they had never seen a girl hit a home run, with this one landing 235 feet from home plate.The homer also helped the Volcanoes — in the triple-A division — and coach Gary Storment, who’s an older distant cousin of Kodi’s, to a 10-7 win. The team is 2-1 heading into today’s game against the Bees at 2 p.m., also at Soderquist Park.Kodi Storment had supplied a home run before, though that happened in practice.She figured that she would eventually hit one in a game, but never thought it would be this soon. Again, she’s only 9 and attending Brown Elementary as a fourth grader. But it’s not a huge surprise the impact she’s making, considering last season she was named the team MVP for the Storms in the double-A division after batting .750.Kodi’s mom, Joelene, played softball throughout high school in Southern California before trying out the recreational leagues. Kodi also has cousins on her Little League team in Tyler Stout and Chance Storment.Kodi just enjoys competing.“I like playing against the boys, of course,” she said. “It’s really fun to play. I can’t explain it. It’s just fun.”To contact Chhun Sun, e-mail csun@turlockjournal.com or call 634-9141 ext. 2041.